


Smells Like School Spirit

by orphan_account



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Highschool AU, M/M, Multi, cheerleader bev, cheerleader eddie, cheerleader stan, football player bill, football player mike, mostly stenbrough, side reddie and benverly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-01-18 17:56:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12393201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Stanley Uris had never planned on becoming a cheerleader. He had been a gymnast since he was a kid and by the time he got to high school, the gymnastics team had been cut from Derry High School. Cheer Squad had been a last resort, though in the end he came to love it.And while Derry High School may have the best cheer squad in New England, they also had the mostspectacularly terriblefootball team.Bill Denbrough is a star player from nearby Millinocket who's parents move him to Derry, and plans to turn that around. He may also have his eyes on the cute curly haired boy on the cheer squad, but getting Stan to give him the time of day is somehow an even bigger challenge.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to sakurabun203 on Tumblr for the request! I know literally nothing about cheerleading or football so I did a tiny bit of research while outlining but sorry if it sounds awkward/is obvious that I don’t know what I’m talking about lmao. For reference, Stan is a spotter in this, Eddie is the flyer obviousy because he’s a smol bean, and Bev is a base.

Stan had never planned on becoming a cheerleader. He had been a gymnast since he was a kid and by the time he got to high school, the gymnastics team had been cut from Derry High School. Cheer Squad had been a last resort. But it wasn’t so bad really - he actually really enjoyed it, and he was good at it. The whole team was really. Every year they placed at Regionals (usually winning the gold and moving on to Nationals, but every once in awhile taking home Silver), and in his Sophomore year he and Beverly had been able to convince Eddie to join them.

Not being the only guy on the team had made a vast improvement in Stan’s life. Sure, he was still bullied mercilessly for being a male cheerleader, but now he had Eddie alongside him and Eddie was small, but he was fierce. Where Stan tended to walk away, Eddie had no problem telling off the football players (who were usually at least twice his size) for picking on the only team at Derry High who actually won anything.

While Derry High School may have the best cheer squad in New England, they also had the most _spectacularly terrible_ football team. The team hadn’t won a game in at least ten years, and at this point, the cheer squad pretty much just used game nights as extended practice for their Championship routines.

They were going into their Junior year, and Stan had a feeling it was going to be a good one. They had another successful summer at Cheer Camp under their belts, and Beverly was their newly selected Captain. She, Stan, and Eddie had already started choreographing their routines for the State and Regional Championships. The first week of school found them on the field bright and early every day before school, stretching and practicing their jumps and tumbles while Richie (who had been dragged along by Eddie) passed out on the bleachers until it was time for classes to start.

But when they arrived that first Friday, it was to find that they were not alone on the field. Stan was fighting down an embarrassing flush, and though he couldn’t see it, so was Beverly. There was another boy on the field running laps - it was someone they had never seen before - and he was _beautiful_. They had been stopped in their tracks for barely a second though before Eddie broke the momentary silence.

“Come on guys, this guy doesn’t own the field, let’s go!”

Stan was startled back to his senses and, jogged to catch back up with Eddie and Richie, with Beverly not too far behind.

“Who is that guy?” he hissed to his friends. He wasn’t sure why he was whispering - it’s not like this guy would be able to hear him. The field was huge. “Have any of you seen him before?”

“No,” Beverly said, her gaze matching Stan’s as they watched him gracefully turn a corner on the far side of the field.

The reverie was once again broken, this time by Richie. “He’s some new kid - he’s in my physics class. His name is Bob or something? His family just moved here. You should hear him talk, it’s a fuckin’ train wreck!” he said with a raucous laugh.

“Don’t be a dick, Rich,” Eddie scolded, elbowing Richie sharply in the gut. “Anyway, who cares! We’ve got our own practice to deal with.”

The next time Stan sees the new kid - whose name he soon finds out is not Bob, but Bill, is in the library later that day. He was doing schoolwork on his free period and after spending almost the entire block with his nose buried in his history textbook, he looked up only to see the boy from the field talking to the librarian.

He could see now - or rather, hear, what Richie had meant this morning. The boy was struggling to get his name out, and Stan could see other students in the immediate vicinity making mediocre attempts to stifle their giggles behind their hands.

“That’s enough!” came the shrill voice of the librarian, who Stan could see was glaring at the students around them. He watched as they dispersed, but couldn’t help but notice the boy’s startled jump. It was adorable.

Stan knew he shouldn’t be staring but he couldn’t help it.

The boy looks over his shoulder, embarrassment bright and red across his face. His blue eyes meet Stan’s and Stan is frozen.

He gives Stan a small smile.

Stan blushes and immediately looks back down at his textbook. But he can hear the boy finally spit his name out to the librarian.

“B-Buh-Bill D-Deh-henbrough, ma’am”

Stan smiles to himself as he buries himself into his work.

Stan sees Bill in passing a few more times over the course of the next week, mostly on the field in the mornings before classes when he’s practicing with Eddie and Bev.

Bill has taken to waving at him with a huge smile as he runs and Stan, trying to keep a straight face, offers a much more timid wave in return, earning raised eyebrows from Eddie and Bev. The first time this occurred, it was followed by an all out scene from Richie.

“By golly,” he started that morning, in one of his terrible voices. Stan thinks it’s supposed to be an old timey Transatlantic accent like the old black and white movie stars, but it just sounds like Richie to him. “Eds! Ms. Marsh! When did this _fascinatin’_ development occur for our dear Stanny and the mysterious Mr. Denbrough?”

“God, shut up, will you?” Stan groaned. “We saw each other in the library last week. Go sleep on your bench and leave us alone!” With a roll of his eyes he grabbed Eddie and Bev and moved on to their daily drills.

But this was the extent of his interactions with Bill until that Friday evening. He, Eddie, and Bev drove up to the field for the first football game of the season and joined the rest of their team on the field. The home side of the stadium was practically empty. No one from Derry bothered to come to the games anymore - the only exception being the family and friends of the cheer squad, who were only there to support them.

On the opposite side, the bleachers were fit to burst. It seemed like all of Bangor High School was sitting on the opposite side of the field.

As Beverly called the squad to attention, Stan fell into place - choreography and cheers coming out naturally and moving to his spot behind Eddie, as Beverly and one of the others lifted him up and threw him skyward. Stan watched as he spun in mid-air and held his arms out, ready as Eddie came back down, landing perfectly in Stan’s arms before bouncing back to his feet, and joining the others in unison with a toe touch.

As Stan looked out to the bleachers, he saw a few unfamiliar faces, but thought nothing of the two adults and the little boy in the yellow jacket.

That is, until the football team surged the field, their wild energy completely disconnected from the paltry, bored applause coming from the bleachers. Stan usually paid them little attention but tonight his gaze was caught almost immediately by the sight of Bill running onto the field, helmet under his arm and waving at the family of strangers in the bleachers who waved excitedly back.

The only people in the bleachers who actually looked excited to be there, Stan noticed.

 _‘Whatever,’_ he thought. _‘They’ll learn eventually.’_

It was just his fucking luck that Bill had to be a goddamn football player. When he looked back over from the bleachers to the team he was met immediately with the sight of Bill’s smiling face trying to make eye contact with him.

Stan rolled his eyes and turned back the crowd, plastering a smile back on his face as the squad began their next cheer.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill tries to get Stan's attention. Stan has attitude about football players.

Bill spent the entirety of his first game as part of Derry High School’s football team on the bench, which he knew would be disappointing for his family (he had told them they really didn’t have to come, but Georgie had just been so excited), but he didn’t really mind. He observed the dynamics of the team quietly, taking note of the plays the captain and coach were selecting and watching them play out to determine why they weren’t working out.

He wasn’t stupid - he had joined the football team knowing how bad they were. Every school in Penobscot County knew that Derry’s football team hadn’t won a game in decades. When his friends at Stearns High in Millinocket had found out that Bill (a star player on their football team) was going to be moving to Derry they had all had a good laugh at his expense. Bill had taken the teasing in stride but if he was being honest with himself, he had been looking forward to it. Being a good player on a good team was fine, but it wasn’t a challenge.

Bill, despite his quiet demeanor and the stutter that some might mistake for shyness,  _ lived _ for a good challenge. And getting Derry High’s football team to the playoffs was certainly going to be a difficult one.

It wasn’t long though, before Bill’s eyes began to be drawn to the cheerleaders on the side of the field. The boy he had seen each morning on the field and again at the library last week was there and Bill couldn’t help but stare. He still didn’t know his name but boy, did he want to. He wasn’t quite as tall as Bill was, but he was close. His build was slender, but not waifish, and Bill could tell that he was stronger than he looked. He had soft curls that Bill wanted to run his fingers through falling over his forehead, and the most beautiful smile Bill had ever seen.

He spent the rest of the game trying to pay attention to his teammates but constantly stealing glances at the beautiful boy on the cheer squad. He was determined to ask him for his name (and maybe his number too), as soon as the game was done, but before he had a chance to walk over, he was ambushed by his little brother Georgie who had rushed onto the field as soon as the game was over.

“What’s this all about G-G-Georgie?” Bill laughed as he ruffled Georgie’s hair and pulled him into a one armed hug. “I d-d-didn’t even d-do anything!”

He waved as his parents approached the two of them in a much more dignified manner.

“I t-t-tuh-told you you d-didn’t have to come,” he said apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand, his right still around Georgie’s shoulders.

“Oh come on, Bill, we wouldn’t miss your first game!” his mother said with a smile.

“Who knows, maybe you’ll get out on the field next time! Show ‘em what’s what,” his father added with a wink.

Bill rolled his eyes, extracting himself from Georgie’s arms and excusing himself from his family, claiming he needed to get down to the locker rooms to change and debrief with the team, and that they shouldn’t wait around. As soon as they had given him their last hugs, he turned around scanning the field for the curly haired cheerleader.

Who was nowhere to be found.

Bill sighed, knowing he had missed his chance, but headed down to the locker rooms nonetheless, knowing that he was sure to see him and his friends bright and early on the field Monday morning when they were practicing their drills.

* * *

 

As it turned out, getting the attention of the boy he hadn’t been able to get out of his head was harder than he expected. Bill waved to them as he always did come Monday, but this time didn’t receive a wave back. He told himself that maybe the boy just didn’t see him and kept on running, but it didn’t take long for Bill to get the hint.

He had no desire to talk to Bill.

He was standing at his locker when he heard them coming down the hall. It was Richie from his physics class who he heard first and his ears instantly perked up as he pretended to busy himself with his books.

Richie was making some kind of crude joke, as he was wont to do, and then he finally heard the voice he was hoping for, rebuking Richie but sounding fond as he did it. Bill slowly stood and made a move to close his locker as Richie opened his mouth once more.

“Oh come on Stanley my Manley,” he teased in a sing song voice. “You know you love me!”

_ Stanley _

His name was Stanley. Bill smiled to himself before turning to see the small group that was quickly approaching. Richie, the red headed cheer captain he had learned was named Beverly last week, Richie’s boyfriend Eddie, and then there on the end with his beautiful curls falling around his face, was  _ Stanley _ .

“Hey!” he called out as they came upon his locker and stepped out into their path with a small wave.

“Big Bill!” Richie called and came over to slap him on the back as Beverly and Eddie smiled politely and waved. But the warm smile Stanley had been wearing when he talked to his friends was very quickly falling into an unamused glare that made Bill feel more unsure of himself than he had ever felt in his life.

But he was not going to be deterred that easily.

“I d-duh-don’t think we’ve officially m-met yet,” Bill said amiably to the other three. “I’m B-B-Bill,” he introduced himself, holding his hand out for a handshake, and was relieved when Beverly took it.

“Welcome to Derry!” she said warmly. “I’m Bev, and this is Eddie and Stan,” she said, gesturing to to other two. Eddie waved and said hello when Bev introduced him, but Stan simply raised an eyebrow at him before turning to the others.

“I’ll see you guys on the field later, alright?” he asked, turning on his heel when they nodded and walked away in the other direction, leaving an uncomfortable moment of silence in his wake. Bev and Eddie looked at him apologetically.

“D-did I d-duh-do something wrong?” he asked, looking at the three of them nervously.

“Nah, you’re good, Billy Boy,” Richie said, patting him on the back. “It’s not you. Stan’s just got attitude about football players.”

“Oh,” Bill mumbled, looking past Richie’s shoulders at Stan’s back turning a corner down the hall and leaving his sight.

* * *

 

After that, Bill decided to give Stan some space, watching him from afar and trying to figure out how to get Stan to give him a chance to talk to him. He saw that Stan was an incredibly hardworking student. Besides coming in early and staying late for cheer practices, he spent a lot of his lunch periods studying in the library and Bill had come by in the evening after football practices himself, and had even seen Stan there then.

Sometimes he had his notebooks out and was clearly studying for tests and going over notes, but sometimes he saw Stan surrounded by Ornithology books, and he knew that could only be for pleasure, because Derry High didn’t offer any classes that would require reading like that.

He saw Stan with his friends, saw his easy camaraderie with Bev and Eddie and saw that despite the way Stan would shut down Richie’s stupid jokes and voices, he always had a fond smile on his face when he did so. Sometimes Richie would be in the library with Stan while he studied, and on those days, Bill would quickly leave.

Richie never studied for anything and had straight A’s without it, and so the first time Bill had turned up when Richie was there, Richie spent the whole time babbling at Stan and wiggling his eyebrows at Bill knowingly from across the library. Bill only lasted about fifteen minutes before his ears were pink and his cheeks were hot from embarrassment and he packed up his things and made a quick retreat.

Football games were one of the few times where Bill felt like he had a chance to make an impression on Stan. It was the only time he had where Stan would be (somewhat) in his presence and not walk away, so he made it even more of a priority than usual to be the best player he could be.

It was showing to his team too. He had already been an exceptional player before he arrived, but he had a new fervor that impressed their coach and after only a few games on the bench, he was given the opportunity to get on the field.

Within the first quarter he had scored a touchdown and there was a moment of stunned silence throughout the stadium before the paltry crowd on the Derry side of the stands erupted into applause. Bill hardly noticed the crowd though because in the few moments before his team had piled onto him in celebration, he had looked out at the cheerleaders and seen Stan’s shock turn into a small, impressed smile, before throwing himself into a victory cheer with the rest of the squad.

But the best part of his night, even better than Derry winning a game for the first time in over a decade, better than his parent’s pride and Georgie’s excited cheers as he caught his older brother in a hug after the game, was when he was making his way to the locker room doors after the game and Stan had caught his eye and nodded.

He felt like he was on top of the world when he went through the doors to the locker rooms, but it had nothing to do with the cheers of his teammates or their win, and everything to do with a curly haired cheerleader that he couldn't get out of his head.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading friends! I hope you enjoy it! there’s gonna be at least one or two more parts of this. I started writing this out as headcanons to kind of outline it and it ended up being something that just wasn’t going to fit into a little drabble/oneshot.
> 
> come say hi on tumblr! https://killerxqueer.tumblr.com


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